Improvement in siding holders and gages



F. E. KROPF.

Improvement in Siding-Holder and Gage.

No. 132,159. Patented Oct. 15,1872.

UNITED STATES PATENTl OFFICE.

FRANZ ERNST KROPF, OF JOLIET, ILLINOIS.

IMPROVEMENT IN SIDING HOLDERS AND GAGES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 132,159, dated October 15,' 1872;

To all whom it may concern:

Be itknown that I, FRANZ ERNST Knorr, of J olict, in .Will county and State of Illinois, have invented a Siding HolderA and Gage, of which the following is a specification:

My invention relates to a device for holding boards 'used for weather-boarding the sides ot' a building, and is intended to obviate the necessity of driving nails in the side of the building for the purpose of holding up the board until it can be nailed, and also to gage the distance from the lower edge of one piece to that ofthe one above, thus dispensing with the use of the compasses or rule.

Figure l in the drawing represents a side elevation of the device, and Fig. 2 a view of the device .as it appears in use.

The device isl intended to be constructed ot' metal, in the form as shown in the figures. a is a semicircular handle, terminating at the upper end in a point, b.. Passing through the handle a, near its two extremities, is a rod, c, furnished with a foot at the lower Aend r, and also with the lock-nuts e and s, as shown particularly in Fig. l. The rod c is cut with a thread from about its center down to or near the foot for the lock-nuts e and s to turn on, while the upper'end is square and may be furnished with a scale of inches, as shown at Fig. l. The lock-nuts c and s clasp the lower end of the handle a between them, as ,shown in Fig. l, at any point along on the rod c desired, so the distance between the poiutb and the foot o" maybe regulated at will.

The mode of operation is shown at Fig. 2. It will be observed that the foot r is brought up under the lower edge of the siding C, while the point b is forced into the same near its upper edge by a slight blow of the hand, far

enough so that it will support the siding next above, marked B, the rod c passing up through the handle a far enough so as to form 'a guard to hold the siding B in place; By using the device at either end of the siding and having them set so that the distance between the foot r and point b is the saine, there is no difficulty p in having the siding all parallel with each other.

By the use -of this device ver y much time is' saved by being relieved from the tedious process of driving in nails-and pulling them out again, as every siding is put on in the ordinary way. The durability of the device cannot be doubted, being constructed of metal in a permanent manner.

It will be observed that by dispensing with the use of nails driven in the side of the building the siding is not so easily split, nor is there such a chance for water to get through the siding where the nails are driven when 4this device is used, for the sharp point makes but f 

